Three persons, including a small girl, were killed when a bus collided head on with a car in which they were travelling on the Madurai-Tiruchi highway at Othakadai junction on Sunday morning. Two others who were injured in the accident were admitted to different hospitals.
The police identified the deceased as N. Marimuthu (67) and his wife Dhanapathi (63) and their nine-year-old granddaughter Priyaja. The police said that the couple from Dhalavaipuram in Virudhunagar district, along with their grandchildren, was proceeding to Chennai to receive their son and daughter-in-law who were returning from a foreign country.
At around 8.15 a.m., when the car was speeding on the four-lane highway, a private bus coming from the opposite direction took a sudden right turn and hit the car. The bus was proceeding to Mattuthavani Integrated Bus Stand from Kallal in Sivaganga district. In the impact of the collision, a portion of the car slipped under the bus killing the couple on the spot. The girl died on the way to the hospital.
The police had to employ heavy machinery to remove the injured driver, Vijayakumar, who got stuck inside the mangled remains of the car. The driver and the couple’s grandson, Pradeep (13), were admitted to different hospitals, the police said.
The bus driver, Prabhakaran, has been arrested by the Othakadai police.
